Wild Goose Chase: Wyle E. Goes Plastic

OLD SAYBROOK — Six $39.99 coyotes are ridding the high school playing fields of a smelly, dirty problem.

School business manager Julie Pendleton figured she could afford six of the critters, which, as it turns out, is all she needed to scare off the troublesome Canada geese that flock to the fields.

The coyotes have frightened off the scores of geese, which eat the grass and leave behind pounds of droppings. The school system was ready to turn to expensive chemical treatments for the lawn.

But budget cuts and concern about possible side effects shelved that idea. Pendleton said Thursday she learned of the coyote solution from a friend who'd heard it was used with some success in neighboring Rhode Island.

Coyotes are predators of Canada geese, but replacing one with the other would not be much of an improvement -- except when, as in this case, they are life-size, realistic-looking, but fake. According to the manufacturer, Renzo's, of Milwaukee, these coyotes are made of corrugated plastic.

``They're two-dimensional, but the geese don't know it. The only thing you have to be sure to do is move them around once a week so the geese don't catch on they're not real,'' said Pendleton.

They've been posed around the playing fields in various locations, ``and it's worked perfectly,'' said Pendleton. She said the fake coyotes have been aided by an energetic Labrador retriever owned by athletic director Pat Burke, who lets his dog loose on the fields each day.

The coyotes are ``resting'' inside at the moment because the geese are not landing on the fields due to their snow cover. But as soon as the snow melts, ``they'll be back,'' said Pendleton.